A huge Thank You from the Valley Flora crew! Not pictured: Cleo (age 7), Evan (Saturday deliveries), and Cora, Maggie and Beth (farmstand). What a team!

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What's Probably In Your Share This Week:*

Carrots

Onions

Beets

Celery

Green Cabbage

Tetsukubotu Squash

Bunched Asian Greens

Parsnips

Potatoes

Radishes or Turnips

On Rotation:(Some locations will receive it this week; others in a future week)

Nothing this week...

*Harvest Basket contents may vary between pickup sites in a given week depending on what's ripe and ready on the farm. Don't worry - if something is on the list but not in your tote, you'll get it soon!

The VF Crystal Ball - What Might be in your Share Next June...

Lettuce

Strawberries

Kale

Mint

Broccolini

Asparagus

Arugula

Radishes

Cherry tomato plant

The Grand Finale!I have this problem anytime I leave town, where I pack ridiculous quantities of vegetables into a cooler or snack bag to take with me. Then, far from a fridge, I find myself under the inevitable pressure of perishability and there I am again trying to eat a whole pound of sunflower shoots in the car before they go bad, or crossing my fingers that my veggie stash will make it past TSA at the airport. It's a food security disorder, probably diagnosable, stemming from some semi-irrational/semi-well-founded fear that there is nothing real to eat once I leave the sphere of the farm. So I take my veggies with me. Everywhere I go.

The last week of the CSA season is kinda the same for me, but it's your food security that I am fretting over, not my own. I want to pack you every last stick of long-keeping produce I can fit into a Rubbermaid tote in hopes of staving off your first trip to the grocery store for as long as I can. Giant green cabbages? Stuff 'em in there! More parsnips? YES! Potatoes, carrots, radishes, turnips, beets (it'll all store well in your fridge)! Onions: great for weeks if not months in a cool, dry spot. And that Tetsu winter squash? Well, we were still eating them last June after nine months of storage, so no pressure there!

For those of you who are coming along for the Winter CSA ride, starting January 9th there will be plenty more produce coming your way to see you through until next June. For anyone who isn't signed up for the winter season but who might want to stock up here and there, our farmstand will be open starting January 9th, every other week in conjunction with our Winter CSA pick-up in our barn (we'll post a farmstand schedule in the new year).

I hope this last tote feeds you well into December, and I hope that every time you tuck into that giant cabbage you'll think of us and know how grateful we are to you for being one of the essential bricks that make up our farm's foundation. Our CSA members are the bedrock of our farm in so many ways: financially for sure, but you also buoy our spirits, motivate us to innovate, and inspire us to get better at what we love to do each year. That's an enormous gift. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

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Share your Feedback!
We'd love to hear any feedback you have about the season. There's no formal survey to fill out, but if you're inspired send us an email and let us know what you loved, what you didn't, what you want more of, or what you never want to see in your CSA tote ever again (raise your hand if you already miss eggplant?!).

I crunched the numbers and this year the value of the produce in your 28-week share added up to $980, based on our farmstand prices. You paid $800 for that produce, which means you got to enjoy a 22.5% discount on all the food you took home as a CSA member this season. I'm pretty sure that's the largest seasonal discount we've ever seen in the past ten years, thanks to some great yields in certain crops and expanded crop diversity throughout the season!

The Harvest Basket mostly hovered above $30 in value all season, with a few spikes upwards of $45 in August and September. Good job eating your vegetables, everyone!

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2019 CSA Sign-UpsIt'll be June before we know it with summer's bounty upon us again, but whaddya say we take a few weeks to rest and digest the 2018 season before we think about that? I promise to send out a sign-up email for the 2019 Summer/Fall CSA Season in January. Anyone who was a member this year will automatically get priority for next season, so there's no need to put yourself on our waiting list. Many of you have been with us since 2009 when the CSA first began, a whole decade ago. Amazing! We are so lucky to have committed supporters like you, who bravely do kitchen combat with giant kohlrabis and bumpy-skinned squash. They should make an action film about you guys!

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Tamales this Week!It's your last tamale delivery of the year. A big thank you to Juana for the 2,100 tamales she made for everyone this season!

Remember to grab your labeled dozen from the marked cooler at your pick-up site this week!

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The Farmstand is Open for Winter Hours!

Every Wednesday 10 am to 2 pm, rain or shine!(No more Saturdays until next June)

On Rotation:(Some locations will receive it this week; others in a future week)

Nothing this week...

*Harvest Basket contents may vary between pickup sites in a given week depending on what's ripe and ready on the farm. Don't worry - if something is on the list but not in your tote, you'll get it soon!

The VF Crystal Ball - What Might be in your Share Next Week...

Onions

Carrots

Celery

Beets

Mustard Greens

Kabocha Squash

Green Cabbage

Parsnips

Potatoes

Radishes?

The Last Two Weeks!We're in the home stretch of the 2018 season! Next week will be our last week of CSA deliveries until our Winter/Spring season begins on January 9th. If it feels like the fall/winter produce is piling up on you, worry not! Most of it - with the exception of leafy greens - has a long storage life. Kohlrabi, celeriac, carrots, potatoes, parsnips, cabbage, apples, leeks and even turnips (if you cut the tops off) will keep for weeks if not months in your fridge. Winter squash and onions will hold for most of the winter in a cool, dry place as well. Our hope in these last couple CSA weeks is to fill your crisper and countertop with crops that will continue to feed you and your family and friends into December, and maybe even beyond.

I've been especially inspired in the kitchen this week (getting home by 5:30 really helps - man, I love winter!) and I've made a few dinners that made me want to invite all of you over, especially those of you who have winter squash piling up as centerpiece decor. I love this recipe from Six Seasons: Roasted Squash with Yogurt, Walnuts and Spiced Green Sauce. I had to buy some cilantro to make the green sauce, but it makes enough that you'll have leftover to re-purpose for chimichurri-esque fish or lamb or steak (that's tonight's dinner plan!). There are some other awesome recipes in Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables that make inspired use of hardy fall and winter veg (also spring and summer produce!), so if you don't own the cookbook yet you might drop a hint with Santa.

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Radicchio Caesar
All the nation is in a tizzy over romaine lettuce right now, again (oh, our industrial food system (big sigh)). If you are going through Caesar salad withdrawals, we have a Valley Flora-local-seasonal solution for you this week: radicchio Caesar. The sugarloaf radicchio in your tote is among the mildest of all the chicories we grow, and you can make it even milder if you slice the head into ribbons and soak it in cold water for 10 minutes to leach out any trace of bitterness. You might actually fool your dinner guests into thinking it's romaine, for better or for worse.

I grabbed a recipe off the internet and made up a homemade Caesar dressing last night (I opted for one without raw eggs, cuz who needs salmonella and E. coli in the same week?), grated some parmesan, toasted some croutons, and tossed it all together. I actually used a much more bitter variety of radicchio that I had on hand and our 7 year old chowed it down (yup, the miracle of salad dressing). And you know, even if romaine wasn't on the recall list, I think I'd prefer the radicchio version anyway: hearty, fresh, flavorful, traceable, and comforting in more ways than one. Thanks for being part of our local farm-direct food system.

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The Farmstand is Open for Winter Hours!

Every Wednesday 10 am to 2 pm, rain or shine!(No more Saturdays until next June)

On Rotation:(Some locations will receive it this week; others in a future week)

Nothing this week...

*Harvest Basket contents may vary between pickup sites in a given week depending on what's ripe and ready on the farm. Don't worry - if something is on the list but not in your tote, you'll get it soon!

The VF Crystal Ball - What Might be in your Share Next Week...

Leeks

Carrots

Celeriac

Radicchio

Chard?

Delicata Squash

Apples

Turnips

Radishes?

Happy Thanksgiving!We're grateful for your support of our little farm and the important role you play in choosing local food and family-scale organic agriculture. Thank you! We wouldn't be here without you!

Here on the farm we're looking forward to hunkering in for a few days around Thanksgiving and welcoming some real rain at last! Of course the wet forecast is creating the inevitable last-minute-before-the-rain scurry around here as we try to get a week's-worth of harvest done in two days AND check a few more fair weather projects off the never-ending list (don't forget to pull the irrigation pumps out of the creek before the deluge!). It'll feel great to take a big breath on Thursday and spend the day appreciating all the food, family, friends, and some long-overdue seasonal weather. Let it storm, Oregon-style!

We're packing some Thanksgiving-specific goodies for you this week, especially shallots (for gravy!), celery and rosemary (stuffing!), an extra big share of spuds (mashers!), and parsnips. We don't grow the prettiest parsnips in the world (in over 15 years of farming, I still haven't learned the secret to growing snow-white parsnips), but they are tasty. Your veggie peeler is your friend this week, and so is this recipe, especially if you think you don't like parsnips: Roasted Winter Squash and Parsnips with Maple Syrup Glaze and Marcona Almonds.

Wishing you all a cozy, happy Thanksgiving! Feast mightily!

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All CSA Pick-Ups Are on Wednesday This Week!
We will be delivering ALL shares to ALL pick-up sites this Wednesday, November 21st. Pick-up times will be as follows at each location:

Valley Flora: Wednesday 9 am - 4 pm, no change

Coos Bay: Wednesday 12 pm - 4 pm, no lat pick-up option

Port Orford*: Wednesday 8 am to 5 pm

Bandon*: 10:30 am to 5 pm

*Port Orford and Bandon members, please note that there will be no Saturday pick-up on November 24th next week.

We will resume our usual delivery schedule the week of November 26th.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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The Farmstand is Open for Winter Hours!

Every Wednesday 10 am to 2 pm, rain or shine!(No more Saturdays until next June)

On Rotation:(Some locations will receive it this week; others in a future week)

Nothing this week...

*Harvest Basket contents may vary between pickup sites in a given week depending on what's ripe and ready on the farm. Don't worry - if something is on the list but not in your tote, you'll get it soon!

The VF Crystal Ball - What Might be in your Share Next Week...

Shallots

Carrots

Celery

Brussels Sprouts

Kale

Rosemary

Parsnips

Potatoes

Butternut Squash

Weird Wintry FoodWe've come to that point in the year when the Harvest Basket gets kinda gnarly. This week we're hitting you with a double whammy: giant kohlrabi and celeriac. They may look like something out of Star Trek, but like most things rough and scary on the outside, they're tender and sweet on the inside.

These winter kohlrabis get gigantic, on purpose. They keep for months in the fridge, but the sooner you dive in with your peeler and knife the sooner you'll be treated to the juiciest, sweetest, most mild kohlrabi you've had all season. Hands down, I prefer to eat my kohlrabi raw - cut up as simple veggie sticks with dip, or doused with lime and salt (jicama style). You can also cook with it (including the leaves, which are collard-like), but I think it looses some of its crisp appeal.

If I were you, I'd give this slaw recipe a whirl, which you can use your hakurei turnips in as well: Kohlrabi and Turnip Slaw.

As for the celeriac (aka celery root), once you get that knobby, hairy skin off you've got a creamy, white heart to put to use in any number of ways. Check out this list of great recipes, and be sure to try the Celery Root and Beet Salad. If you want to save it for Thanksgiving, celeriac is a great addition to stuffing recipes.

Remember, just like books and people, never judge a vegetable by its skin. :)

Newly-germinated cover crops in the the frosty morning light.

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Thanksgiving Pick-Up Schedule
Thanksgiving is sneaking up on us fast! As many of you know, our CSA delivery schedule changes the week of Thanksgiving. We will be delivering ALL shares to ALL pick-up sites on Wednesday, November 21st. Pick-up times will be as follows at each location:

Valley Flora: Wednesday 9 am - 4 pm, no change

Coos Bay: Wednesday 12 pm - 5 pm, no change

Port Orford*: Wednesday 8 am to 5 pm

Bandon*: 10:30 am to 5 pm

*Port Orford and Bandon members, please note that there will be no Saturday pick-up on November 24th next week.

We will resume our usual delivery schedule the week of November 26th.

If you will be out of town for the Thanksgiving holiday and can't pick up your CSA share, we are happy to hold your food for you in our walk-in cooler and you can pick it up upon your return. Please email me by November 18th to request a cooler hold. We need your name, usual pick-up location, the items you want us to hold (Harvest Basket and/or Eggs), and the date you plan to pick them up from the farm.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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The Farmstand is Open for Winter Hours!

Every Wednesday 10 am to 2 pm, rain or shine!(No more Saturdays until next June)

On Rotation:(Some locations will receive it this week; others in a future week)

Romanesco

*Harvest Basket contents may vary between pickup sites in a given week depending on what's ripe and ready on the farm. Don't worry - if something is on the list but not in your tote, you'll get it soon!

The VF Crystal Ball - What Might be in your Share Next Week...

Yellow Onions

Carrots

Celeriac

Kohlrabi

Turnips

Lettuce

Spinach?

Beets

Spaghetti squash

Cipollinis and ChicoriesThis week we're putting some Italian flair into the Harvest Basket in the form of cipollini onions and radicchio, a form of chicory. The cipollinis are coveted by many of the chefs we work with, but we saved every last one of them for our CSA members this year. Across the board our onion yields were drastically lower than usual due to a summer infestation of thrips (a tiny sap-sucking insect that flocks to onion leaves and steals energy away from the growing bulb). They're an especially pungent onion (guaranteed to make you cry) but also have more residual sugars than your typical yellow onion, which makes them incredible for roasting or caramelizing. Their thin skin and flattened shape make them a little trickier to peel, but it's well worth the paring knife effort.

We are crushing hard on radicchio this fall, with five varieties starting to come out of the field. Four of them are new trials for us, inspired by the passion of our friends at Local Roots Farm who shared some of their favorite varieties and growing tips with us last winter. I think everyone will see a variety called Fenice (picture above) in their tote this week, a speckled Castelfranco type.

Radicchios all belong to the chicory family alongside endive, escarole and dandelions, and they come in countless colors, shapes, and sizes. They tend to be mildly bitter and pair well with toasted nuts, cured meat, fresh or dried fruit, and cheese. If you're averse to bitterness, you can slice up radicchio and soak it in cold water for 10-20 minutes before making a salad, or you can wilt or grill it. Tangy salad dressing using citrus or vinegar also cuts the bitterness. I don't usually munch on plain, raw radicchio but I love the flavor in combination with seasonal fruit like pears, apples, pomegranates and citrus, some toasted nuts, parmesan or goat cheese, and a good sweet/tangy homemade dressing. I came across some great recipes courtesy of Whistling Train Farm that I'm going to try out this week.

Here are some pics of some of the other beauties coming out of the field in limited quantity right now. Next year I think we'll grow a few more for you :). It's hard not to swoon over a vegetable the color of a bridesmaid's dress!

Clockwise from top left: Treviso, Rosalba, Chioggia Radicchio, Fenice

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Last Call for Winter CSA Sign-Ups
Winter CSA Sign-Ups are under way! We have a limited number of spots left, so get yourself signed up ASAP. Current CSA members will have priority until November 8th, at which point we'll open it up to folks on our waiting list.

A few details to keep in mind if you're interested in signing up:

The cost of a winter share is $400, payable by check or via PayPal on our website. Payment is due by December 1st.

Candace's eggs will also be available, 10 week shares for $55.

Winter CSA shares are limited! We can only do about half our summer volume due to winter production constraints, so I encourage you to sign up and reserve your spot as soon as possible on our website!

We do not deliver in the winter. All Winter CSA shares (veggies and eggs alike) must be picked up at the farm. Pick-up is every other Wednesday from 9 am to 4 pm at our barn, 2 miles up Floras Creek Road. Because pick-up is from our walk-in cooler, it's fine if you come a day or two late, so long as you pick up during daylight hours.

Concurrent with Wednesday CSA pick-ups, we will have our farmstand set up in the barn in case you want to purchase any additional goodies.

Don't hestitate to reach out with any questions!

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Thanksgiving Pick-Up Schedule
Thanksgiving is sneaking up on us fast! As many of you know, our CSA delivery schedule changes the week of Thanksgiving. We will be delivering ALL shares to ALL pick-up sites on Wednesday, November 21st. Pick-up times will be as follows at each location:

Valley Flora: Wednesday 9 am - 4 pm, no change

Coos Bay: Wednesday 12 pm - 5 pm, no change

Port Orford*: Wednesday 8 am to 5 pm

Bandon*: 10:30 am to 5 pm

*Port Orford and Bandon members, please note that there will be no Saturday pick-up on November 24th that week.

We will resume our usual delivery schedule the week of November 26th.

If you will be out of town for the Thanksgiving holiday and can't pick up your CSA share, we are happy to hold your food for you in our walk-in cooler and you can pick it up upon your return. Please email me by November 18th to request a cooler hold. We need your name, usual pick-up location, the items you want us to hold (Harvest Basket and/or Eggs), and the date you plan to pick them up from the farm.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Tamales this Week!
Don't forget to pick up your tamale share from the marked blue coolers this week!

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The Farmstand is Open for Winter Hours!

Every Wednesday 10 am to 2 pm, rain or shine!(No more Saturdays until next June)

On Rotation:(Some locations will receive it this week; others in a future week)

Purple Cauliflower

*Harvest Basket contents may vary between pickup sites in a given week depending on what's ripe and ready on the farm. Don't worry - if something is on the list but not in your tote, you'll get it soon!

The VF Crystal Ball - What Might be in your Share Next Week...

Cipollini Onions

Red Cabbage

Carrots

Celery?

Collards

Lettuce

Radishes

Yellow Potatoes

Kabocha Squash

Radicchio?

Brussels Sprouts and Butternuts
Our Indian summer lingered so long this fall that I'm struggling to comprehend how it could be time for late season crops like Brussels sprouts. Usually it's been rainy and cold for a few weeks before we dive into the Dr. Seussian forest and start logging stalks with the machete, but somehow the calendar is turning a page into November this week and the Brussels sprouts are ready!

I always hope for a frost before the first Brussels sprouts harvest because it sweetens them up and helps convince otherwise skeptical CSA members of their merits. Many of you need no convincing, but since we haven't had a frost yet and and some of you have inevitably suffered childhood Brussels sprouts trauma, here's a recipe that I love (I go easier on the garlic than they do and they still turn out yummy): Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Garlic

There are also Butternut squash in your share this week, which somehow always makes me feel happy and worry-free about the Harvest Basket. They don't test your belief system (Spaghetti squash), endanger your digits (Acorn squash), or instill fear of the giant unknown (uh, check out the photo of the dry-farmed North Georgia Candy Roaster I just baked in my very large oven this morning, because it was so scary and seemed a fitting meal for a Halloween mob). Don't worry, you will not be receiving any North Georgia Candy Roasters in your tote this year because:

we only have 13 of them (from our OSU dry-farming trial this summer), and

they weigh about 12 pounds apiece, and

they are too long to even fit in a tote.

You can, however, buy one at the farmstand if you're brave and love super-sweet squash, or want to play a gag on someone, or need practice carrying a baby around before your large newborn arrives.

But I digress....Butternuts! Pretty much everyone knows what to do with a Butternut squash - soup! They are silky-smooth-oh-so-easy to peel with solid orange meat within, which also means this: don't be blinkered by the notion of soup alone! You can put a Butternut to work for you in any recipe that uses winter squash, period.

And now for some frightening Halloween pics of the 13-pounder that I slayed this morning. My largest chef knife wasn't up to the job, and the chainsaw was out of gas, so I baked it whole. The scene was made all the more gory when I accidentally decapitated it upon removal from the hot oven:

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Winter CSA Sign-Ups
Winter CSA Sign-Ups are under way! We have a limited number of spots left, so get yourself signed up ASAP. Current CSA members will have priority until November 8th, at which point we'll open it up to folks on our waiting list.

A few details to keep in mind if you're interested in signing up:

The cost of a winter share is $400, payable by check or via PayPal on our website. Payment is due by December 1st.

Candace's eggs will also be available, 10 week shares for $55.

Winter CSA shares are limited! We can only do about half our summer volume due to winter production constraints, so I encourage you to sign up and reserve your spot as soon as possible on our website!

We do not deliver in the winter. All Winter CSA shares (veggies and eggs alike) must be picked up at the farm. Pick-up is every other Wednesday from 9 am to 4 pm at our barn, 2 miles up Floras Creek Road. Because pick-up is from our walk-in cooler, it's fine if you come a day or two late, so long as you pick up during daylight hours.

Concurrent with Wednesday CSA pick-ups, we will have our farmstand set up in the barn in case you want to purchase any additional goodies.

Don't hestitate to reach out with any questions!

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The Farmstand is Open for Winter Hours!

Every Wednesday 10 am to 2 pm, rain or shine!(No more Saturdays until next June)

Tw0-year old Jules, wowing his mom and grandpa with the biggest cider apple of the day!

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What's Probably In Your Share This Week:*

Carrots

Red Onions

Lettuce

Beets

Pie Pumpkin

Acorn or Festival Squash

Romanesco

Apples

Spinach

On Rotation:(Some locations will receive it this week; others in a future week)

Savoy Cabbage

Purple Cauliflower

Radishes

Turnips

*Harvest Basket contents may vary between pickup sites in a given week depending on what's ripe and ready on the farm. Don't worry - if something is on the list but not in your tote, you'll get it soon!

The VF Crystal Ball - What Might be in your Share Next Week...

Leeks

Chicory?

Carrots

Carrots

Cauliflower?

Brussels sprouts

Radishes or Turnips

Parsley

Butternut Squash

Winter CSA Sign-Ups
This week's hefty bag of toothsome spinach from our new field tunnel reminded me that it's time to spread the word about the Winter CSA! We'll be offering a winter/spring CSA share like last year, with the first totes going out the week of January 7th and continuing every other week through the week of May 13th (10 weeks total). We had so much fun doing it last year - and we ate so well all winter - that we're going to try our luck with the winter months once again.

I had some trepidation with the notion of a winter CSA, given the uncertainty of the weather: floods, freezes, hailstorms, and all the rest. But each week that we packed the winter/spring shares I marveled at the diversity and abundance of food we were sending out, thanks to the combination of storage crops, greenhouse production, outdoor overwintering crops, and early spring perennial crops (asparagus, artichokes...). This year we have even more planted for winter, plus two new greenhouses in the New Nine, so we're hopeful that there'll be good winter eating for all.

A few details to keep in mind if you're interested in signing up:

The cost of a winter share is $400, payable by check or via PayPal on our website.

Candace's eggs will also be available, 10 week shares for $55.

Winter CSA shares are limited! We can only do about half our summer volume due to winter production constraints, so I encourage you to sign up and reserve your spot as soon as possible on our website!

We do not deliver in the winter. All Winter CSA shares (veggies and eggs alike) must be picked up at the farm. Pick-up is every other Wednesday from 9 am to 4 pm at our barn, 2 miles up Floras Creek Road. Because pick-up is from our walk-in cooler, it's fine if you come a day or two late, so long as you pick up during daylight hours.

Concurrent with Wednesday CSA pick-ups, we will have our farmstand set up in the barn in case you want to purchase any additional goodies.

Don't hesitate to be in touch if you have any questions, and enjoy your first taste of the winter season to come when you dig into that spinach!

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Apples in Every FormFresh apples in your share this week. Apple crisp gracing the table for dessert on a cozy, cold fall night. Apple cider gushing forth from our wooden press on Sunday. A couple jugs of said apple cider perking on the back porch, slowly morphing from sweet to hard. Windfall apples on the ground, luring the deer in through some invisible hole in our fence. Four kids in four trees, shaking fruit down for yet another round of cider-making. Apples. Apples. Apples.

On Rotation:(Some locations will receive it this week; others in a future week)

Savoy Cabbage

Purple Cauliflower

*Harvest Basket contents may vary between pickup sites in a given week depending on what's ripe and ready on the farm. Don't worry - if something is on the list but not in your tote, you'll get it soon!

The VF Crystal Ball - What Might be in your Share Next Week...

Red Onion

Beets?

Carrots

Savoy Cabbage or Cauliflower

Brussels sprouts?

Radishes?

Apples

Spinach?

Winter Squash

Farewell Eggplant, Hello Orchard Fruit!
It's time. Time to be done with eggplant. Time to pull the plants and sow cover crop in their stead. Time to move on to the other bounty of fall, like the neon purple cauliflower that some of you will get this week, and the curly-headed savoy cabbages that others will get (we couldn't fit both in the tote because they're so big, so you'll get one this week and the other next week). Time to eat Hakurei turnips and kale again and squeal with delight over the arrival of the Delicatas.

That blast of heat on Sunday was something, followed by the smoky haze of wildfires reignited. It felt like summer trying to extend her desperate grip just a little longer with one last insane burst of BTUs. But next week's forecast is so comforting: rain. Rain to bring up all our cover crops and turn pastures green again and bring an end to fire season.

Cooler days and even chillier nights this week make me want to eat apples, finally. You'll see some soon in your tote. This week it's Asian Pears - a variety called Shinko that is juicy and sweet and mild.

And tangentially related to eggplant and orchard fruit, potatoes! (Belonging to the Solanaceae family like eggplant, and known in France as pomme de terre - "apples of the earth.") This week's potatoes were dug with horse power! We hitched Jack and Lily up to a potato digger for the first time and lifted a thousand pounds of potatoes out of the ground in about 3 minutes. Holy spuds! I was pretty excited because it means that we can officially get rid of our cultivating tractor! My new equine team has proven itself time and time again this season: cultivating single row crops, hilling potatoes and leeks, spreading compost, mowing cover crops, and so much more - effectively rendering the ACG tractor obsolete on our farm. Hats off to the ponies!

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Solar Fundraiser CancelledWe are very disappointed to let you know that we've had to cancel the Farm Dinner and Cider Pressing Fundraiser scheduled for this Saturday, October 20th. We're brainstorming other fundraising ideas to help put solar on the roof of the barn next spring and will keep you posted. Thanks to everyone for your outpouring of support and excitement!

On Rotation:(Some locations will receive it this week; others in a future week)

Sweet Corn

*Harvest Basket contents may vary between pickup sites in a given week depending on what's ripe and ready on the farm. Don't worry - if something is on the list but not in your tote, you'll get it soon!

The VF Crystal Ball - What Might be in your Share Next Week...

Red Onion

Radicchio

Carrots

Savoy Cabbage

Potatoes

Hakurei Turnips

Tomatoes

Peppers

Delicata Squash

Kale

Parsley

Spaghetti Squash
It used to be that the week we put spaghetti squash in your tote I would find myself in front of the computer writing an advocacy piece for this much-maligned winter squash. It seems the food tides have turned in the past few years though and spaghetti squash has been lifted by the wave of gluten-free mania and carried to new shores where its Fall arrival is greeted by hordes of screaming fans, all dying for some alternative to noodles.

It's a humble Hindenburg of a squash and always one of the first to go out because it doesn't need curing time like some of the others. If you cut your squash in half and bake it, then scrape out the cooked flesh with a fork, you'll have a pile of squash strings that closely resemble noodles. From there you can go in any direction: smother your "noodles" in marinara sauce, dress them up with chili, make fritters, or keep it simple with a little butter. Kids marvel at noodles that grew inside a squash, so have them help you make dinner this week.

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Final Week of Salad Shares
This is your last distribution of Abby's Greens for the season. If you can't imagine life without them, you can still source them for awhile longer from a variety of local stores: the Port Orford Community Co-op, the Langlois Market, Mother's Natural Grocery and McKay's (both in Bandon), and Coos Head Co-Op in Coos Bay. An enormous thank you to Abby for her tireless dedication to growing the most beautiful baby greens I've ever met.

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Tamales this Week!
Tamales go out this week in marked blue coolers. Please be sure to only take tamales if you are on the list, and to double check that you have the right bag before you leave your pick-up site. Thanks!

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Cider Pressing and Farm Dinner October 20th!Join us on October 20th for an afternoon of cider pressing and horsedrawn farm tours and then an evening feast in our greenhouse to help raise money to put solar on the roof of the barn! Dinner will feature Valley Flora produce, wine and music, and everyone will go home with a jug of cider! $100 per person, all towards the cause of solar-powered produce! RSVP here! More details on our website!

On Rotation:(Some locations will receive it this week; others in a future week)

Romanesco

Kale

*Harvest Basket contents may vary between pickup sites in a given week depending on what's ripe and ready on the farm. Don't worry - if something is on the list but not in your tote, you'll get it soon!

The VF Crystal Ball - What Might be in your Share Next Week...

Yellow Onion

Lettuce

Carrots

Broccoli

Fennel

Eggplant

Tomatoes

Hot Peppers

Radishes?

Sweet Peppers

Spaghetti Squash

Winter Squash
In my mind there aren't any two things in the produce world more quintessentially "Fall" than winter squash and romanesco. Their arrival always makes it easier to say goodbye to summer and shift into the rhythms of fall: coming home a little earlier, turning on the oven to roast some squash, maybe building the first fire in the woodstove (any day now), embracing the shorter days.

This week's first winter squash distribution is a combo of Acorn and Festival. They are similar, except for their skin. Acorn is the dark green guy. Festival is the yellow circus-y one. Neither need time to "age" so we typically send these two varieties out first (some varieties of winter squash benefit from a few weeks or even months in storage to develop their best flavor and texture) .

Winter squash have tough skins (which is what gives them their storage crop super powers), but it means they can be tough to hack into and the cause of many a kitchen knife mishap. Acorn and Festival are among the toughest so be careful! There are a few different tricks to cutting one up:

For the bold and brave: choose a heavy-duty, sharp-tipped knife. Insert the point of the knife into the side of the squash and then carefully work the blade around its circumference with the tip inside the squash the whole time, until you cleave it in half. From there, it's safer and easier to cut the squash into pieces, or bake the halves face down on a cookie sheet with a little water to help steam-cook it.

For the patient and cautious: either pre-bake your squash for awhile whole until it softens up, or pierce it a few times with a knife and put it in the microwave for a bit until it softens a little. Then proceed with cutting it up.

With the exception of Delicata squash, which you'll see in a few weeks, I like to peel my winter squash. Depending on how tough and bumpy the skin is, you can either use a good veggie peeler or a sharp knife.

As for eating them, the sky's the limit: soup, soup bowls (acorn and festival make great soup bowls once cut in half), pumpkin curry, roasted, steamed, mashed, stuffed. They can be center of the plate, or one of many ingredients in something else. And best of all, they store for months on your counter and look festive and seasonal while they're hanging out there, waiting for you to get inspired.

Cider Pressing and Farm Dinner October 20th!Join us on October 20th for an afternoon of cider pressing and horsedrawn farm tours and then an evening feast in our greenhouse to help raise money to put solar on the roof of the barn! Dinner will feature Valley Flora produce, wine and music, and everyone will go home with a jug of cider! $100 per person, all towards the cause of solar-powered produce! RSVP here! More details on our website!

On Rotation:(Some locations will receive it this week; others in a future week)

Nothing this week...

*Harvest Basket contents may vary between pickup sites in a given week depending on what's ripe and ready on the farm. Don't worry - if something is on the list but not in your tote, you'll get it soon!

The VF Crystal Ball - What Might be in your Share Next Week...

Red Onion

Lettuce

Carrots

Broccoli

Zucchini

Eggplant

Kale

Tomatoes

Romanesco?

Potatoes?

Hot Peppers

Sweet Peppers

Parsley

Fall Fundraiser Dinner at the Farm - Help Valley Flora Go Solar!
For the past ten years at Valley Flora we've been harnessing horses to help get the farming done, but wouldn't it be great if we could harness the sun itself? For a long time our goal has been to make this little farm as climate-friendly as possible through the use of horses and our electric tractor, but solar has been out of reach financially. We looked into solar panels in 2010 but it was way beyond our budget.

Then, this past winter we found out about a couple solar grant programs that were about to sunset - one with the state of Oregon and the other through the US Department of Agriculture. With invaluable grant-writing assistance from a non-profit called Spark Northwest we applied for both grants. We just found out this month that our solar-powered-produce dream is finally coming true: we were awarded both grants! Combined, they'll cover 45% of the cost of a 12 kW solar installation big enough to power most of the farm: our irrigation pump, walk-in cooler, freezers, and new propagation greenhouse.

Our hope is to have solar panels on the roof of the barn by next spring, but we need to raise matching funds to make it a reality. To help get us part of the way there, we're hosting a fall fundraiser dinner at the farm on October 20th! There will be an afternoon of cider pressing and farm tours, followed by a 5-course dinner with wine served in our new greenhouse. Dinner will feature all the Valley Flora produce we can stuff into five courses, with the masterful help of chef Kali Pestana of the Loft.

Cider pressing and farm tours start at 3 pm; dinner will begin at 5 pm. Cost is $100 per person. Everyone will go home with a jug of cider.

If you'd like to join us on October 20th, please RSVP and we'll save you a seat! Let's raise a glass together: to the power of the sun!

A photo of the inaugural dinner in our new greenhouse last spring. Join us for another dinner under glass on October 20th!

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Fall Farmstand Hours Start Next Week!Dark mornings, cold nights, fall is here! As of next Wednesday, October 3rd, the farmstand will begin operating on fall hours: every Wednesday and Saturday from 10-2 (instead of 9-2). We'll stay open for Saturdays as long as the weather holds up, through October, but will switch to Wednesday-only winter hours by November. The produce is as diverse and colorful as it gets these days as summer and fall collide in a riot of food.

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Strawberry U-Pick Beautiful and AbundantAll this heat and sun has brought on a strawberry rebound in the u-pick beds. There is ample ripe fruit, yours for the easy picking! It's not too late to fill the freezer and make your winter stash of jam!

On Rotation:(Some locations will receive it this week; others in a future week)

Cucumbers

*Harvest Basket contents may vary between pickup sites in a given week depending on what's ripe and ready on the farm. Don't worry - if something is on the list but not in your tote, you'll get it soon!

The VF Crystal Ball - What Might be in your Share Next Week...

Leeks

Lettuce

Carrots

Broccoli

Zucchini

Eggplant

Kale

Tomatoes

Beets

Hot Peppers

Sweet Peppers

Parsley

Valley Flora Hygge
This is the moment I wait for all year, when the pepper plants are bent over under their load of circus-colored fruit. Reds, oranges, yellows, and even purple. It means there's nothing to worry about if I forget to pack my lunch in the morning: there's snacking to be had in every field, from carrots to sweet corn to celery to cucumbers to tomatoes to peppers to apples to pears to kiwi berries. The imperative is to eat, which for us also means to gather.

In Denmark and Norway, there is a word: hygge (pronounced hoo-ga). We don't have an exact parallel in English, but it essentially describes "a form of everyday togetherness....a cozy and convivial atmosphere that promotes well-being." It's about enjoying the good things in life with people you love, maybe even by candlelight. It's a cornerstone of their culture and some sociologists blame hygge on the fact that the Danes are among the happiest people in the world.

Hygge is pretty easy to come by these days around our table, surrounded by this cusp-of-fall abundance and the best crew we've ever had working on the farm. I hope your weekly harvest basket inspires a little hygge around your table as well.

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Back so Soon?
I feel like I was just apologizing to you about the super-sized heads of broccoli in your share, and eek! They're baaaa-ack! The fall brassicas are coming on strong in our new field and I fear it's a bit of an almost-instant-replay from early summer. Some of the broccoli crowns are close to 2 pounds apiece (blame those nitrogen-fixing cover crops again!). The good news if you're not head over heels for broccoli is that there are only a few plantings for fall, compared to 5 or 6 in the spring, so the onslaught won't last nearly as long.

Strawberry U-Pick Still OpenBelieve it or not, the strawberries are still fruiting and will continue to do so as long as the rain holds off. I'm personally eager for rain, but for those of you who haven't made your jam or put some in the freezer, there's plenty of elbow room in the patch right now and lots of fruit to be had. We notice that fall-picked berries sometimes have a shorter shelf life, so we recommend keeping them refrigerated for fresh eating or freezing/jamming them immediately.

On Rotation:(Some locations will receive it this week; others in a future week)

Nothing this week...

*Harvest Basket contents may vary between pickup sites in a given week depending on what's ripe and ready on the farm. Don't worry - if something is on the list but not in your tote, you'll get it soon!

The VF Crystal Ball - What Might be in your Share Next Week...

Onions

Lettuce

Carrots

Cucumbers?

Zucchini

Eggplant

Potatoes

Tomatoes

Fennel?

Beets?

Sweet Peppers

Kale

Corn Compost
Corn, no matter how sweet, has a bit of a bad rap among farmers of my ilk. It's a heavy feeder, meaning it requires lots of fertility, and for the vast amount of space it takes up in the field it's a ridiculously low yielder (one ear per stalk and there's only one stalk per foot, which means it's barely paying the bills - if at all). We grow it anyway because what would a summer be without homegrown corn? (Yes, it's true, many a bad business decision is made at Valley Flora because of our stomachs).

But in the past few years since we've ramped up our on-farm compost production, corn has earned my new respect as a compost superstar. We mainly grow an organic variety called Allure, chosen after many years of trials for it's big bi-color ears full of deep, super-sweet, tender kernels that go "pop!" when you bite into them. Also, the plants reach towering heights of 8 feet or more, which makes the corn patch more fun to get lost in but also makes for huge amounts of green biomass.

According to John Jeavons, father of the modern bio-intensive gardening movement and auther of "How to Grow More Vegetables (than you ever thought possible on less land than you can imagine)," one bed of corn will make enough compost for two beds. That's good math. I hadn't heard that bit of trivia when we started composting our corn stalks, but it it was helpful affirmation that the labor investment to harvest the stalks and build the compost piles was worth it. It goes like this: once we've harvested all the ears from a planting and the stalks are still green, we pull the drip tape from the beds and log the corn stalks - either with a sharp machete or the weedeater with a blade attachment (and maybe eventually with the horsedrawn sickle bar mower). The stalks get hauled out of the field with the flatbed and trailer and then layered in a pile with cow manure we source from a dairy in Coquille. The hollow structure of the corn stalks and they way they criss-cross in the pile makes for great aeration and our compost pile temps usually rocket up to 140 degrees within the first week! Every pile gets turned with the tractor multiple times until the rains set in, at which point we tarp the piles for winter and let them finish.

It takes a few hours and some sweat to turn a corn planting into a compost pile but in addition to creating compost it solves a biomass problem in the field. A towering patch of corn stalks, even if mowed down and tilled under, takes a long time to decompose in the field. In the past that meant it was tricky to get our corn ground cover cropped in the fall - too much undigested biomass in the soil would inhibit the germination of the fall cover crops that we plant to protect our soil through the winter. Removing the stalks and turning them into compost leaves us a clean field that we can successfuly plant our cover crops into and gives us a beautiful pile of black compost to spread the next spring. Plus, the work-out means there's no need for a gym membership. Win-win-win :)

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The Time of Buckling TotesAfter we pack Harvest Baskets on Tuesday and Friday we stack them seven high and roll them into our walk-in cooler, ready for delivery the next day. That's just the right number to fit on a hand truck, but at this time of year we can't always get away with so many in a stack; the bottom ones start to buckle and sag under all the weight of so much corn and so many eggplants and those dense Napa cabbages. It's kind of a happy problem to have.

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Eggplant Tip from a Fellow CSA MemberI got a great, helpful email from a CSA member who is coping fabulously with this year's bumper crop of eggplant. I thought it might be useful to those of you who are overwhelmed by the onslaught of aubergine. I don't have a microwave, but I kind of wish I did after reading this:

I am compelled to share my secret to managing all the yummy eggplant.

I cook it whole in the microwave for 4 minutes. Then peel if desired and cut into various sizes for soups, stews, curries. Caponata! It beats the labor intensive slice and salt and pat dry method. Usually it cuts down the amount of oil most recipes call for.

I don’t have any eggplant remaining and look forward to the next installment. I have been able to use it all, although I could freeze it for later use. It is delicious and goes quickly into caponata and baba ganouj, Thai red curry and eggplant marinara casserole. No fuss. All flavor. Somehow it becomes a lot more “user friendly” for me cooked in this manner.

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Uma, making her way to the orchard through a field ready for cover crop.

Melons for breakfast. And lunch. And dinner. And everything in between.

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What's Probably In Your Share This Week:*

Carrots

Red Onion

Zucchini

Cucumbers

Tomatoes

Eggplant!

Dill

Sweet Corn

Sweet Peppers

Melon

On Rotation:(Some locations will receive it this week; others in a future week)

Green Beans

*Harvest Basket contents may vary between pickup sites in a given week depending on what's ripe and ready on the farm. Don't worry - if something is on the list but not in your tote, you'll get it soon!

The VF Crystal Ball - What Might be in your Share Next Week...

Onions

Lettuce

Carrots

Cucumbers

Zucchini

Celery

Napa Cabbage

Tomatoes

Eggplant

Potatoes

Sweet Peppers

Hot Peppers

Melon Bliss
Abby is all to thank for these two weeks of melon nirvana. She's mostly known as the Salad Queen at Valley Flora, dedicating herself for untold hours to the production of Abby's Greens each week. But for years she's also nurtured a passion for growing melons. In our coastal climate, melons are a gamble. For instance: Last year it rained four inches the week after she transplanted all her starts in mid-June and all but a few succumbed to damping off. One year it was perfect, hot, melon-growing weather all summer and then September turned rainy and her just-ripe melons went watery. Some years we simply don't get enough heat to bring on a perfect melon.

Nevertheless, Abby has spent a lot of years trialing different varieties and taste-testing the results and the winner is unanimously a cantaloupe named Sarah's Choice. The stars aligned this year and the melon crop is a stunner. In our household we appreciate the fact that sometimes they crack, or the mice take a nibble, or the skin looks funny. Those are the ones that make it to the kitchen and give us an excuse to eat as much melon as possible while it's here.

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Strawberry Lull
I'm glad there are melons to take the place of the strawberries these past two weeks since the strawberry patch has entered a decided lull. There's still fruit to be had, but the picking is much slower and less abundant. We're hoping there might be a September rebound based on the flowers and green fruit on the plants, but it's always hard to predict this late in the season when the weather could turn any time. Our Albion variety, which is set aside for u-pick, is producing better than the rest so there's still an opportunity to put some in your freezer if you haven't already done so.

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Tamales this Week!Tamales are going out in marked blue coolers this week. If you're a tamale member, please check labels and make sure you take the right bag home! Enjoy, with fresh tomatoes and sweet peppers on the side!

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My favorite dahlia, Maarn, is at the peak of its bloom window right now, stealing the dahlia show near the farmstand.

My 100-year-old horsedrawn cultipacker, salvaged out of a blackberry thicket near Powers in 2008. Still going strong, thanks to the equines.

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What's Probably In Your Share This Week:*

Carrots

Beets

Zucchini

Cucumbers

Tomatoes

Eggplant!

Cilantro

Head Lettuce

Sweet Peppers

On Rotation:(Some locations will receive it this week; others in a future week)

Green Beans

Melon

Chard

Collard Greens

*Harvest Basket contents may vary between pickup sites in a given week depending on what's ripe and ready on the farm. Don't worry - if something is on the list but not in your tote, you'll get it soon!

The VF Crystal Ball - What Might be in your Share Next Week...

Onions

Lettuce

Carrots

Cucumbers

Zucchini

Corn?

Tomatoes

Eggplant

Potatoes

Sweet Peppers

Dill

Eggplant for the Masses
It's happening again: a bumper eggplant crop to beat all bumper eggplant crops. It's going to thrill those of you who have been writing to me confessing that you can't get enough of the stuff, and have even been buying extra at the co-op. For the eggplant skeptics, now's your moment to overcome past prejudices and get down with some baba ganoush or eggplant parmesan (or make a generous gift of 5 big eggplants to your friend who loves them).

I'm a fan of the light and simple eggplant parm approach (who has time to sweat and bread and fry - all those extra eggplant steps!?). Think broiled eggplant, fresh tomatoes, sauteed onions, maybe some fresh mozzarella layered together and baked into a melty goodness. I wanted to make one last week but didn't get to the store in time to buy some mozzarella so instead I sauteed up fennel and Walla Walla sweets and layered it with tomatoes, feta, and broiled eggplant. I baked it at 400 until it was bubbling and then we ate it on quinoa. Almost vegan (for those who tend that way) and still so good (ok, can you tell I love cheese?).

Ratatouille is another way to burn through some eggplant and other than the dried herbs, your harvest basket this week contains everything you need to make this recipe.

If you can't imagine ever eating so many eggplants in one week (and um, yeah, there will be more next week), make a double batch of baba ganoush and freeze it for later.

Good luck, and enjoy. I sure am.

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The Halfway MarkWe're fourteen weeks into the CSA season, with fourteen more to go. Some of you have been wondering if it's almost over but rest assured there are many, many more pounds of food coming your way through the week of December 3rd!

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Looking west over the New Nine. On the right you can see the beginnings of the two greenhouses we're building for winter production, next to a verdant patch of fall Brassicas (the fall broccoli promises to be about as big as the spring/summer batch). The new strawberry field mid-photo is still yielding but having a temporary lull (all of us are a little tired in late August, berries and humans alike). We're prepping the farthest field for next year's strawberries, to be planted this November.

On Rotation:(Some locations will receive it this week; others in a future week)

Green Beans

*Harvest Basket contents may vary between pickup sites in a given week depending on what's ripe and ready on the farm. Don't worry - if something is on the list but not in your tote, you'll get it soon!

The VF Crystal Ball - What Might be in your Share Next Week...

Onions

Lettuce

Carrots

Cucumbers

Zucchini

Strawberries

Collards or Chard

Tomatoes

Eggplant

Potatoes

Sweet Peppers

Cilantro?

Dry-Farm Trials at Valley Flora
Drought has been in the news aplenty the past few years, with growing concerns about implications for agriculture in Oregon. A quick glance to our south doesn't paint a pretty picture of what could be in store for us. In drought-plagued California water wars have been raging fierce as the state grapples to balance the demands of urban centers, native salmon runs, and farm production. At the peak of water shortages a couple years ago, almost 2 million acres of prime farmland in the Central Valley - which produces almost half of the nation's fresh fruit and vegetables - were left fallow for lack of irrigation water. Meanwhile, communities were setting up portable community shower facilities to deal with water rationing and many of the state's native salmon runs were - and still are - teetering on the brink of extinction.

A similar scenario is playing out in Oregon's Klamath basin and climate change predictions are suggesting that we're in for less rain in the future, not more. In response, Oregon State University has spearheaded a project with 30+ farmers around the state to conduct on-farm trials growing a few specific crops without irrigation. We're one of those farms this year.

On Memorial Day, OSU professor and researcher Alex Stone arrived at the farm in her pickup, loaded with soil moisture probes, ten winter squash plants and five tomato plants. She took a six foot deep soil profile sample of our field, installed 4 soil moisture probes at 1', 2', 3' and 4' depths, planted out the winter squash and tomatoes on five foot spacing, and handed me a soil moisture reader to collect data with each week.

We got the plants established with drip tape for the first few weeks, but by the end of June had removed all irrigation from the plot. Every week I record the soil temperature, the soil moisture at each depth, and the percentage of squash plants with female flowers and send the data off to the OSU team.

The vigor of the dry-farmed plants has been astonishing. They are side by side with our drip-irrigated squash plants and the dry-farmed plants are actually larger than their irrigated counterparts. They are on wider spacing - 5' instead of 2' - which allows them to forage more widely for water and nutrients. The ground is bone dry these days but the plants don't show any sign of mid-day wilting and the fruit load on both the tomatoes and the squash is startling.

We're keeping yield data on the tomato harvest each week, and will do the same once winter squash harvest commences in September. Those numbers, taken together from thirty different sites, will be key in determining the overall economic viability of dry-farming for farmers around the state. We're expecting the flavor of both the tomatoes and the squash to be superior to that of irrigated plants (less water concentrates flavor in the fruit), and research to date has shown that dry-farmed squash keep in storage significantly longer than irrigated squash.

I'll let you know what we learn later this fall. Hopefully the research will help contribute to evolving solutions in the face of shrinking water resources.

The kind of Harvest Basket that makes me wish I was a Harvest Basket member....

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What's Probably In Your Share This Week:*

Walla Walla Sweets

Carrots

Strawberries

Zucchini

Cucumbers

Tomatoes

Eggplant

Sweet Corn

Head Lettuce

On Rotation:(Some locations will receive it this week; others in a future week)

Green Beans

Sweet Peppers

*Harvest Basket contents may vary between pickup sites in a given week depending on what's ripe and ready on the farm. Don't worry - if something is on the list but not in your tote, you'll get it soon!

The VF Crystal Ball - What Might be in your Share Next Week...

Onions

Lettuce

Carrots

Cucumbers

Zucchini

Strawberries

Sweet Corn

Tomatoes

Eggplant

Beets

Chili Peppers

Oh August!
It's so easy to eat right now. Without recipes, without a dinner plan, just come home and start cutting up vegetables and see what happens. Maybe you'll turn on the stove and dirty up some pans, maybe you won't. On Sunday eve we fired up the grill on my mom's back patio, perched there in her backyard overlooking the quiet farm. We grilled burgers and topped them with butterhead lettuce and roasted peppers and fresh heirloom tomatoes and broiled eggplant. We were out of ketchup and it didn't matter; those burgers were so flavorful I was glad there was no Heinz distraction. Then came the sweet corn, first of the season (had to eat 3 or 4 ears apiece to make sure it made grade before we put it in the Harvest Baskets this week). And finally, blackberry pie by candlelight with hand-cranked vanilla ice cream. We were three generations sitting there in the dark, wrapped up in borrowed coats against the fog-chill, filled up by August.

This week marks the kick-off to sweet corn season, which should go on for many weeks this year. We planted more corn than ever in hopes of dragging that wonderful August feeling all the way into October if we can. The patch wasn't uniformly ripe yesterday so I had to cherry-pick the fattest ears for today's totes and farmstand. It means there isn't a motherlode of corn this week (4 ears instead of 6 or 8), but it also means there will likely be corn for you again next week.

Often during corn season we lose track of our kids on the farm. It's the rustle of the corn stalks that always gives them away. From a distance you can track their progress down the row as they leave a wake of rippling corn tassels. At the other end of the field they emerge triumphant, holding up ripe ears of corn like trophies. They shuck them right then and there and eat them raw like little raccoons.

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Strawberry U-Pick Update

Our Albion Strawberries are starting to come on strong in the new u-pick field! They're later to bear fruit than the Seascapes but worth the wait. The berries are huge and easy to pick, with flavor that'll knock your summer sandals off. Our strawberry patch yields well into fall and it's a sweet little secret that the August/September fruit tends to be the sweetest and most abundant (especially once the school year starts up and everyone is at Saturday soccer games....now THAT's the time to fill your freezer).